1 Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device which is adapted to stack board- or card-shaped articles, said device comprising a frame into which the articles may be introduced in a loading direction and spacer elements disposed between adjacent articles in the frame.
2. Prior Art
It is frequently necessary to stack board-like articles in a mutually spaced relation. For example, in the case of printed-circuit boards not yet subjected to a soldering operation but already fitted with circuit elements it is necessary to maintain spaces between said boards so that the circuit elements inserted in the boards will not be raised out of their associated holes upon a given board being placed on another board disposed therebelow. A similar problem arises with boards which are provided with a coating, for example, a paint coat or the like, and with which it is required to prevent mutual contact before the drying operation is completed.
Thus far it has been customary with board-shaped articles of this type, particularly pre-assembled printed-circuit boards, to insert such articles into shelves having individual compartments. It is also possible to slide the pre-assembled boards in a lateral direction into shelves provided with slots or to fit the articles into such slots. Besides, it is possible to stack such boards one above the other by disposing spacers between adjacent boards.
A disadvantage of the devices hitherto employed resides in the fact that both the inserting or loading operation and removal of the articles, particularly where separate spacers are used, require a considerable expenditure of manual labor, it being additionally necessary to employ a certain amount of care.
Such devices are not suitable for use in conjunction with mechanical gripping and transfer devices which are employed to an ever increasing extent in the automatic manufacture, particularly of electronic equipment. It is particularly difficult, during loading of the device, to operate the gripping device in such a manner that the stacking space to be used next should be disposed at a predetermined elevation and to provide for adjacent board-shaped articles to be inserted in such a manner that the prescribed spacing is maintained.